Which startups have raised the most funding in the gaming market?

In our updated market reports, you will find everything you need
This monthly updated list ranks the top startups in the gaming market by cumulative funding raised.
The gaming market is broad, covering game engines, mobile publishers, esports teams, Web3 gaming infrastructure, cloud gaming platforms, and independent game studios.
The ranking shows a market where a small number of platform-scale companies captured most of the capital.
A quick summary table
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Most funded startup | Epic Games, $7.9B |
| Second most funded startup | Unity, $1.9B |
| Largest funding round | Playtika IPO, $1.9B in January 2021 |
| Median funding | $56.5M |
| Share of funding captured by the top 10 | About 73% |
| Median time since last round | About 4.6 years |
| Startups that raised funding in the last 12 months | 3 startups |
| Gaming platform funding concentration | Epic Games, Unity, Roblox, Forte, and Improbable raised about $12.4B combined |
| Gaming exit activity | 30 companies are IPO, acquired, or shut down |
| Active gaming startups in the ranking | 54 companies remain active |
Top startups in the gaming market ranked by total funding raised
Here is an updated table that ranks the top startups in the gaming market based on the total amount of funding they have raised to date.
The table also includes the total number of funding rounds, the date and size of the latest round, the financing type (e.g. Series A, equity financing), key investors, the startup’s current status (active, IPO, acquired, or shut down), and a confidence score based on the data collected (we excluded startups with very low data confidence, to make sure everything is reliable).
| # | Startup | What They Do | Total Raised ($) | Total Rounds | Last Round Date | Last Round Amount ($) | Last Round Type | Key Investors | Current Stage | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Epic Games | Game engine and Fortnite | $7.9B | 6 | February 2024 | $1.5B | Strategic equity | Disney, Sony, KIRKBI | Active | Strong |
| 2 | Unity | Real-time game engine | $1.9B | 5 | September 2020 | $1.3B | IPO | Public investors, Silver Lake, Sequoia | IPO | Strong |
| 3 | Playtika | Mobile casino-style games | $1.9B | 2 | January 2021 | $1.9B | IPO | BlackRock, Caledonia, Dragoneer | IPO | Strong |
| 4 | Scopely | Mobile game publisher | $1.0B | 11 | October 2020 | $340M | Series E | Wellington, NewView, BlackRock | Acquired | Partial |
| 5 | Machine Zone | Mobile strategy games | $986M | 5 | December 2018 | $720M | Late-stage / growth | JPMorgan Chase, Anthos Capital, Menlo Ventures | Acquired | Partial |
| 6 | Roblox | User-generated gaming platform | $922M | 5 | January 2021 | $520M | Series H | Altimeter, Dragoneer, Warner Music | IPO | Strong |
| 7 | Forte | Blockchain gaming infrastructure platform | $910M | 2 | November 2021 | $725M | Series B | Sea Capital, Kora Management, Andreessen Horowitz | Active | Strong |
| 8 | Niantic | AR location-based games | $775M | 4 | November 2021 | $300M | Series D | Coatue, IVP, Spark Capital | Acquired | Full |
| 9 | Improbable | Metaverse simulation infrastructure | $772M | 4 | April 2022 | $150M | Venture / Metaverse financing | Andreessen Horowitz, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Digital Currency Group | Active | Strong |
| 10 | Animoca Brands | Web3 games and metaverse investor | $680M | 8 | November 2024 | $10M | Mocaverse equity tranche | OKX Ventures, CMCC Global, HongShan | Active | Partial |
| 11 | Dapper Labs | NFT games and collectibles platform | $666M | 9 | May 2022 | $5M | Series D | Not fully disclosed | Active | Strong |
| 12 | Dream Games | Mobile puzzle games | $468M | 4 | January 2022 | $255M | Series C | Index Ventures, BlackRock, IVP | Active | Full |
| 13 | Mythical Games | Web3 game publishing platform | $297M | 5 | June 2023 | $37M | Series C1 | Scytale Digital, ARK Invest, Animoca Brands | Active | Strong |
| 14 | Glu Mobile | Mobile game publisher | $293M | 7 | May 2015 | $75M | Post-IPO equity | Tencent, NEA, GGV Capital | Acquired | Partial |
| 15 | Immutable | NFT gaming infrastructure | $277M | 4 | March 2022 | $200M | Series C | Temasek, Tencent, Animoca Brands | Active | Strong |
| 16 | ProbablyMonsters | Builds AAA game studios | $219M | 2 | September 2021 | $200M | Series A | LKCM Headwater Investments, Jerry Jones, John Goff | Active | Strong |
| 17 | Bungie | Destiny game studio | $200M | 2 | January 2019 | $100M | Series C | NetEase | Acquired | Strong |
| 18 | Thatgamecompany | Artistic social adventure games | $173M | 3 | March 2022 | $160M | Series D / later-stage | TPG, Sequoia Capital | Active | Strong |
| 19 | Sky Mavis | Axie Infinity game developer | $171M | 3 | April 2022 | $11M | Series C / rescue financing | Binance, Animoca Brands, Andreessen Horowitz | Active | Partial |
| 20 | Genvid | Interactive livestream event technology | $166M | 7 | July 2021 | $113M | Series C | Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management, Makers Fund | Active | Strong |
| 21 | Homa | Mobile game publishing platform | $165M | 3 | October 2022 | $100M | Series B | Quadrille Capital, Headline, Northzone | Active | Full |
| 22 | Manticore Games | User-generated game creation platform | $163M | 5 | March 2021 | $100M | Series C | XN, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, LVP | Active | Strong |
| 23 | Pocket Gems | Mobile interactive games | $155M | 3 | May 2017 | $90M | Strategic equity | Tencent, Sequoia Capital | Active | Full |
| 24 | Build A Rocket Boy | Builds immersive gaming worlds | $151M | 3 | January 2024 | $110M | Series D | RedBird Capital Partners, Galaxy Interactive, NetEase Games | Active | Partial |
| 25 | Overwolf | In-game mods creator platform | $150M | 5 | November 2021 | $75M | Series D | Andreessen Horowitz, Griffin Gaming Partners, Insight Partners | Active | Full |
| 26 | Supercell | Mobile hit games | $142M | 2 | April 2013 | $130M | Series B / secondary-heavy | IVP, Index Ventures, Atomico | Acquired | Partial |
| 27 | Playco | Instant social games | $140M | 2 | February 2022 | $40M | Strategic investment | Meta, Sequoia Capital, Josh Buckley | Active | Strong |
| 28 | Second Dinner | Develops card battlers | $130M | 2 | January 2024 | $100M | Series B | Griffin Gaming Partners, NetEase | Active | Full |
| 29 | Moon Active | Mobile casual games | $126M | 2 | January 2020 | $125M | Series D | Insight Partners, Fastforward Innovations | Active | Strong |
| 30 | 100 Thieves | Esports, apparel, gaming lifestyle | $120M | 3 | December 2021 | $60M | Series C | Green Bay Ventures, Breyer Capital, Tao Capital Partners | Active | Full |
| 31 | PlayVS | Scholastic esports platform | $112M | 6 | August 2025 | $6M | Series D | NEA, Elysian Park Ventures, Sapphire Ventures | Active | Partial |
| 32 | Spyke Games | Social mobile casual games | $105M | 2 | May 2024 | $50M | Strategic equity / Seed extension | Moon Active | Active | Full |
| 33 | Shadow | Cloud gaming PC service | $104M | 4 | October 2019 | $33M | Later-stage / Series B-style | Serena Capital, Brown Venture Associates, Financière Saint James | Acquired | Strong |
| 34 | Team Vitality | European esports organization | $98M | 5 | January 2022 | $57M | Growth investment | Rewired.GG, Tej Kohli | Active | Full |
| 35 | Theorycraft Games | Makes competitive multiplayer games | $88M | 2 | September 2022 | $50M | Series B | Makers Fund, NEA, Andreessen Horowitz | Active | Strong |
| 36 | Medal | Gaming clips and AI desktop | $86M | 5 | July 2024 | $13M | Series D / Venture | Horizons Ventures, OMERS Ventures, peak6 | Active | Partial |
| 37 | Cloud9 | Professional esports organization | $83M | 6 | November 2019 | $1M | Series C | Valor Equity Partners, TrueBridge, Reimagined Ventures | Active | Partial |
| 38 | Team Liquid | Global esports team operator | $80M | 4 | May 2022 | $35M | Growth / Series B | Ares Management, Revolution Growth, Hiro Capital | Active | Partial |
| 39 | Azra Games | Mobile RPG game studio | $68M | 3 | October 2024 | $43M | Series A | Pantera Capital, a16z, NFX | Active | Strong |
| 40 | Mountaintop Studios | Made tactical shooter games | $66M | 3 | January 2024 | $30M | Series B / strategic | Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, BoxGroup | Shutdown | Strong |
| 41 | Cloud Imperium Games | Star Citizen game studio | $63M | 2 | March 2020 | $17M | Follow-on share purchase | Calder Family Office, Snoot Entertainment, ITG Investment | Active | Full |
| 42 | Carry1st | African mobile games publisher | $57M | 7 | October 2024 | Undisclosed | Strategic / Series A | Mastercard | Active | Partial |
| 43 | Astralis | Danish esports organization | $56M | 3 | December 2019 | $22M | IPO | Public investors, Sunstone, Heartcore Capital | Acquired | Strong |
| 44 | Believer | Original game studio | $55M | 1 | March 2023 | $55M | Series A | Lightspeed, Andreessen Horowitz, BITKRAFT | Active | Full |
| 45 | Skillz | Competitive mobile gaming platform | $54M | 9 | December 2017 | $25M | Series C | Telstra Ventures, Liberty Global, Accomplice | IPO | Partial |
| 46 | Horizon Blockchain Games | Web3 wallet and game platform | $53M | 4 | October 2022 | $40M | Series A | Brevan Howard Digital, Morgan Creek Digital, Ubisoft | Acquired | Strong |
| 47 | Fnatic | Global esports brand | $53M | 5 | December 2022 | Undisclosed | Series C-II | Beringea, Marubeni, LVL1 Group | Active | Partial |
| 48 | Next Games | Licensed mobile games | $51M | 3 | March 2017 | $35M | IPO | Public investors, IDG Ventures, AMC Networks | Acquired | Strong |
| 49 | Singularity 6 | Created social MMO Palia | $49M | 3 | July 2021 | $30M | Series B | FunPlus Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, LVP | Acquired | Full |
| 50 | Gen.G Esports | Global esports organization | $46M | 2 | November 2019 | Undisclosed | Later equity | Will Smith, Dreamers Fund, Dennis Wong | Active | Strong |
| 51 | FaZe Clan | Gaming lifestyle media brand | $40M | 6 | August 2021 | Undisclosed | Strategic investment | Jimmy Iovine, NTWRK, Cox Enterprises | Acquired | Partial |
| 52 | Kixeye | Midcore strategy games | $39M | 3 | March 2018 | $20M | Series D | Icon Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Lightspeed | Acquired | Strong |
| 53 | Elodie Games | Built cross-platform co-op games | $38M | 2 | September 2021 | $33M | Series A | Galaxy Interactive, Andreessen Horowitz, Patron | Shutdown | Full |
| 54 | Team SoloMid | Professional esports organization | $37M | 1 | July 2018 | $37M | Series A | Bessemer Venture Partners, AME Cloud Ventures, Stephen Curry | Active | Full |
| 55 | Gardens | Creates online shared worlds | $36M | 2 | July 2023 | $31M | Series A | Lightspeed Venture Partners, KRAFTON, Dreamhaven | Active | Full |
| 56 | Stardust | Blockchain gaming developer tools | $35M | 2 | October 2022 | $30M | Series A | Framework Ventures, Acrew Capital, Blockchain Capital | Active | Full |
| 57 | Misfits Gaming Group | Esports and gaming media | $35M | 1 | September 2021 | $35M | Venture / growth equity | E.W. Scripps Company, Trog Hawley Capital | Active | Strong |
| 58 | Grand Games | AI-assisted mobile game studio | $33M | 2 | January 2025 | $30M | Series A | Balderton Capital, Bek Ventures, Laton Ventures | Active | Full |
| 59 | Parsec | Low-latency remote desktop | $33M | 4 | December 2020 | $25M | Series B | Andreessen Horowitz, Makers Fund, Lerer Hippeau | Acquired | Partial |
| 60 | Planetarium Labs | Open-source Web3 game studio | $32M | 1 | July 2022 | $32M | Series A | Animoca Brands, Samsung Next, Wemade | Active | Full |
| 61 | mod.io | Cross-platform game modding tools | $31M | 3 | November 2021 | $26M | Series A | Tencent, LEGO Ventures, Makers Fund | Active | Full |
| 62 | Mainframe Industries | Builds cloud-native MMO games | $30M | 3 | November 2021 | $20M | Series B | Andreessen Horowitz, Riot Games, Dreamhaven | Active | Strong |
| 63 | Star Stable Entertainment | Horse MMORPG developer | $29M | 3 | December 2018 | $11M | Series A | Nordisk Games, Kima Ventures, Longrun Capital | Acquired | Partial |
| 64 | Seriously | Best Fiends developer | $28M | 4 | August 2015 | $18M | Series A | Northzone, Korea Investment Partners, Upfront Ventures | Acquired | Strong |
| 65 | G2 Esports | Global esports entertainment brand | $27M | 4 | March 2025 | Undisclosed | Series B | WISE Ventures, The Tornante Company, Gary Vaynerchuk | Active | Partial |
| 66 | Gamefam | Roblox game publisher | $25M | 1 | March 2022 | $25M | Series A | Konvoy Ventures, Play Ventures, Makers Fund | Active | Full |
| 67 | Ruckus Games | Co-op shooter studio | $25M | 2 | November 2024 | $19M | Series A | Krafton, BITKRAFT Ventures, Hypergryph | Active | Full |
| 68 | SuperGaming | Indian multiplayer game studio | $22M | 3 | August 2025 | $15M | Series B | Skycatcher, Steadview Capital, a16z Speedrun | Active | Strong |
| 69 | Space Ape Games | Multiplayer mobile games | $21M | 6 | May 2015 | Undisclosed | Series C extension | Northzone, Accel, Initial Capital | Acquired | Partial |
| 70 | Lightforge Games | Social RPG studio | $20M | 2 | March 2022 | $15M | Series A | BITKRAFT Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, NetEase | Shutdown | Full |
| 71 | LightFury Games | AAA cricket games studio | $20M | 2 | April 2026 | $11M | Pre-Series A | Blume Ventures, V3 Ventures, MIXI | Active | Full |
| 72 | Tamatem | Arabic mobile game publisher | $18M | 5 | December 2021 | $11M | Series B | KRAFTON, VentureSouq, Endeavor Catalyst | Active | Partial |
| 73 | Riot Games | Online competitive games | $17M | 3 | September 2009 | $8M | Series B | Tencent, Benchmark Capital, FirstMark Capital | Acquired | Strong |
| 74 | FACEIT | Competitive gaming platform | $17M | 2 | January 2016 | $15M | Series A | Anthos Capital, Index Ventures, United Ventures | Acquired | Full |
| 75 | NRG Esports | North American esports organization | $15M | 4 | September 2017 | $15M | Series B | Marshawn Lynch, Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez | Active | Partial |
| 76 | ReKTGlobal | Esports teams and entertainment | $11M | 6 | December 2020 | Undisclosed | Strategic / equity | Nick Gross, Steve Aoki, Live Nation Entertainment | Acquired | Partial |
| 77 | Guilded | Gaming community chat platform | $10M | 2 | April 2020 | $7M | Series A | Matrix Partners, Initialized Capital, Susa Ventures | Shutdown | Full |
| 78 | Battlefy | Esports tournament platform | $6M | 3 | November 2020 | $5M | Series A | Deep Fork Capital, BDC Ventures, William Morris Endeavor | Active | Partial |
| 79 | Trailmix | Casual puzzle mobile games | $4M | 1 | February 2018 | $4M | Seed | Supercell | Acquired | Strong |
| 80 | Hidden Leaf Games | Develops competitive online games | $3M | 1 | May 2021 | $3M | Seed | Lightspeed Venture Partners, Vermillion Ventures, Logan Margulies | Active | Full |
| 81 | Blacknut | Cloud gaming subscription platform | $3M | 2 | June 2022 | Undisclosed | Strategic investment | Square Enix, GO Capital, Nestadio Capital | Active | Partial |
| 82 | miHoYo | Anime-style gacha games | $0M | 1 | January 2012 | $0M | Angel | Hangzhou Skye Network Technology | Active | Partial |
| 83 | Mojang | Minecraft game studio | $0M | 0 | N/A | $0M | No external equity | N/A | Acquired | Full |
| 84 | Xsolla | Game commerce payments platform | $0M | 0 | N/A | Undisclosed | N/A | N/A | Active | Strong |
Key funding trends in the gaming market
Insights
- Gaming market funding is highly concentrated, with the top 10 startups capturing about 73% of the capital in this ranking
- Epic Games alone raised $7.9B, which is more than Unity, Playtika, Scopely, Machine Zone, and Roblox combined
- Platform and infrastructure companies dominate gaming startup funding, especially game engines, user-generated gaming platforms, blockchain gaming infrastructure, and metaverse infrastructure
- Web3 gaming remains a major funding theme, but Forte, Animoca Brands, Dapper Labs, Mythical Games, Immutable, and Sky Mavis account for most of the category
- Esports has strong consumer visibility, but esports organizations raised far less capital than leading game engines and gaming platforms
- Recent funding is selective, with only three ranked gaming startups raising in the last 12 months: PlayVS, SuperGaming, and LightFury Games
- Many older gaming companies became acquisition targets, which shows how strategic buyers often absorb successful studios, publishers, and esports assets
- The median gaming startup raised only $56.5M, so the market has a very wide gap between platform leaders and smaller game studios
A few word about our methodology
As you can see, we built a database that ranks startups in the gaming market based on their total cumulative fundraising. To create this ranking, we reviewed many sources and cross-checked information across multiple places.
Whenever possible, we prioritized official company communications, since they are the most reliable source for funding amounts. When those were not available, we relied on reputable industry sources such as TechCrunch, Crunchbase, Financial Times or Forbes (to name a few).
We excluded random blogs, unverified websites, and any sources that could not be validated.
When funding rounds were announced in other currencies such as euros, Swiss francs, Singapore dollars, Australian dollars, or rupees, we converted them into approximate USD equivalents for consistency.
Sometimes different sources report slightly different numbers, or the exact round size is not fully disclosed. In those cases, we flag the uncertainty and assign a confidence label to each startup, visible in the last column.
Here is what they mean.
Full confidence: The company’s equity fundraising history can be reconstructed completely from public sources. The rounds, dates, amounts, and key investors are clearly identified, with no meaningful gaps.
Strong confidence: The fundraising history is largely complete and reliable. There may be a small missing detail, such as incomplete investor information or a minor round with limited data, but the overall record is clear.
Partial confidence: The main fundraising rounds can be identified, but the record is incomplete or somewhat mixed. Some rounds may be missing or certain funding events may be difficult to separate clearly.
Low confidence: Public information is too limited, inconsistent, or ambiguous to reliably reconstruct the company’s equity fundraising history.
When the confidence level is too low, we take a conservative approach and exclude the company from the ranking. We don’t want to include data that cannot be reliably verified.
In a world where LLMs hallucinate and unreliable information is everywhere, our goal is simple: provide data you can trust.
If you want the full detail on a specific calculation, feel free to contact us and we will gladly explain.
Finally, know that we update the dataset once per month, so come back here if you need fresh information.
Related blog posts
- How are funding trends changing in the gaming market?
- Who are the most valuable companies in the gaming market?
- How active is venture funding in the gaming market right now?
Who is the author of this content?
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How we created this content 🔎📝
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